Album Review: The Neal Morse Band – “The Grand Experiment”

Prog stalwart Neal Morse has been pretty prolific of late. In 2014 he released albums with both Transatlantic and Flying Colors as well as his solo album Songs From November, the latter being a collection of pop-rock songs. The Grand Experiment however, sees him return to what he’s best known for – huge prog songs.

The creative process for this album was something of a departure for Morse, in that he claims that its the first time he has entered the studio with nothing prepared, so the entire band got in on the writing of the songs, and what’s immediately apparent when listening to The Grand Experiment is the band’s ear for a good old pop hook. The ten minute opener The Call manages to stuff itself with a multitude of them, not only in the vocal melody but in the catchy guitar runs, and Morse’s pop side becomes even more apparent on the title track, its massive chorus bookending the classic rock inspired verses.

Things get folky on Waterfall which is carried by largely acoustic instruments, a warm vocal arrangement and a relatively simple structure that acts as break in the complexity elsewhere on the album. The metallic stomp that graces the verses of Agenda is an unexpected treat and something unique that makes this 3 minute gem stand out amongst its epic surroundings.

Then comes Alive Again. At just shy of 27 minutes there’s always a chance of it going awry, but in the hands of a musician such as Neal Morse that’s not going to be likely. As with most prog epics of this length, the song is actually divided up into several sections which make the whole thing more of a collections of songs with clever segues and the occasional reprisal of melodies. That being said, each of these sections bubble over with inventiveness and hummable melodies.

All in all, The Grand Experiment is an album of brilliant prog songs that rarely dips in quality.

Final Thoughts

All in all, The Grand Experiment is an album of brilliant prog songs that rarely dips in quality.